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My thoughts on Skarner so far.

So as much as I like Skarner, I have to admit he's kinda on the weak side for a few reasons, most of which are related to his skillset.

Crystal Slash: Despite the fact that it's pitifully weak at early levels, this is a fairly solid skill. Its damage is low, however its cooldown is extremely short after factoring in Skarner's passive, making it a pretty decent AoE damage move.

Fixes: Slightly increased range and damage at lower levels. This would hopefully improve his jungle somewhat and his pitiful early game.

Crystalline Exoskeleton: Oh god. This is where almost all of his problems stem from. Fix at least this and I'll be happy. This is one of his most important moves, and, unfortunately, one of his worst. The fact that his steroids are attached to the shield being active ruins it. It's not a very strong shield, and won't withstand more than a second or two of punishment.

I'm not even entirely sure why they thought this was necessary. No other DPS champ's steroid is so conditional. Yes, several have cooldowns (Yi, Tristana, Xin, etc.), however this is acceptable because it's reliable. Once you activate it, you get it until its up. Only Skarner has a DPS booster that can be outright removed by opponents. Worse, it's not even that strong a steroid.

It wouldn't even be all that bad except for the fact that this is his ONLY steroid, and it ties into his passive AS-based CDR.

Fixes: Make the AS boost a passive, or at least remove the requirement that he maintain the shield. This alone would be a huge step in the right direction for Skarner, helping out his jungle and somewhat mediocre damage output quite a bit.

Fracture: Despite all the complaints I've heard about this move's heal, it seems to be alright for what it is. It does require you to push lane, but he has to have SOME downsides. Decent farming move, decent sustain move.

Fixes: Leave as is. A very slight increase on the heal amount might be warranted, but I say that tentatively

Impale: Awesome move, and definitely his most fun. Despite it being a suppress, however, it's not very ult-worthy as long as Shen and Rammus exist. It's flat-out inferior to their taunts in every way, save for the fact that it does damage. Even with Mercury's Treads, Rammus can quite easily pull someone further with his taunt. Even Shen's taunt, which is AoE no less, is almost as good AFTER factoring in Tenacity. The range I can understand, but a 50-75 unit buff there would be a big help.

Fixes: Definitely needs a scaling duration to at least 2 seconds, if not 2.5. Drop the damage on it if you have to, but at least make it an ultimate-worthy skill. Possibly increase range slightly.

Miscellaneous: For an AS-based champ, his IAS is pitiful. I can understand that this was probably done exactly for that reason, but this is pathetic. Straight attack speed items typically aren't very good to begin with, and having a bad IAS means I get even less out of them than someone who's actually scales somewhat well.

His mana costs seem somewhat high, too. Skarner is a spammer. His skillset and passive are all about using an ability the second it's off cooldown. The problem is getting mana to support this. You're basically flat-out forced to buy a Manamune/Archangel in order keep from running OOM halfway through a fight, let alone just trying to farm. Even then, I still find myself looking for an enemy with blue buff to kill if there aren't any available.

Tl;dr: Increase Q damage at low levels by like 10, make AS steroid a passive buff or let it continue despite the shield being destroyed, increase ult duration/make it scale with level/possibly increase its range, buff IAS scaling by 0.5% or so, and improve mana costs slightly.

At the bare minimum, fix his AS steroid and ult. Seriously I actually got taunted by a Rammus a few matches back and my heart kinda sank when I realized he'd not only dragged me double the distance I could drag him, but he didn't even have to worry about wasting the cooldown. Feels bad man.

Well thought, up voted. however his q is kinda.... more lackluster than you put it. He is suppose to capture the feel of running down a prey. When it takes 2 hits of a move to slow, you are not going to catch anything. Frozen mallet is better.

Well thought, up voted. however his q is kinda.... more lackluster than you put it. He is suppose to capture the feel of running down a prey. When it takes 2 hits of a move to slow, you are not going to catch anything. Frozen mallet is better.

I find myself getting red buff all the time because even though he has a built in slow, its pretty terrible.

My first thought when I saw him was "melee Cassiopeia". Just with the spell spamming, associated slow and a passive that promotes the spamming. I know that's where the similarities end (because he needs to survive melee better and has no burst), but it just has that feeling to me.

Well thought, up voted. however his q is kinda.... more lackluster than you put it. He is suppose to capture the feel of running down a prey. When it takes 2 hits of a move to slow, you are not going to catch anything. Frozen mallet is better.

Obviously, but that's because it's Frozen Mallet. I've never had much trouble keeping the slow up, simply because of the MS boost on his shield. Running someone down has never been a problem so far, it's killing them/keeping them from killing me.

Quote:

Serpicos:

I find myself getting red buff all the time because even though he has a built in slow, its pretty terrible.

Excuse me for sounding like Phreak but I think the slow off his Q is better than most give it credit for. It's not GREAT but consider how big a pain in the ass Ashe is and then apply that to a melee champ. Would be too easy.

They need to make it so his energized Q can be cast the minute after he hits the regular, then keep it a 3s. As of now it's a dumb and arbitrary mechanic to have his signature slow move easily avoidable.

They need to make it so his energized Q can be cast the minute after he hits the regular, then keep it a 3s. As of now it's a dumb and arbitrary mechanic to have his signature slow move easily avoidable.

I agree with this. If your Q hits an enemy Champion your secondary effect should become instantly available. It's annoying switching between the two against minions.